


Demon in the Closet

by bittenfeld



Category: I Spy, I Spy (1965)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Betrayal, Dark, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Questionable Ending, Revenge, possible murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 14:30:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4482878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittenfeld/pseuds/bittenfeld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a dark fic.  Kelly had been captured and tortured recently.  But what twists the knife deeper is when he finds out who set him up.  So when he has the opportunity to exact revenge, will he take it…?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Demon in the Closet

Kelly: “Russ saved my life.”

Scott: “No, he didn’t, Kel. He was the one who turned you over to Hernandez’ little group in the first place.”

Russ: “I was working for Hernandez – slipping him information under the table. Then he wanted proof that I wasn’t really just a plant for the Department. He wanted proof that I was really on their side. He asked me to turn over another agent to him. So I gave them you. I’m sorry, Kelly,” he adds, as if that explained something.

Kelly: “How long?”

Russ: “What?”

Kelly: “How long have you been a traitor, Russ?”

Russ: “A long time. I don’t remember.”

Kelly: “You don’t remember. How long had you been working for Hernandez when you gave me to them the first time?”

Russ: “A few months.”

Kelly: “We were partners, Russ. For seven years. We lived for each other. You were closer than a brother to me.”

Russ: “I know. That’s why you were the easiest one for me to turn over to them. You trusted me.”

Kelly: “I trusted you. I trusted you with my life. What did those seven years mean to me? That I was nothing but bait?”

Russ doesn’t answer

Kelly: “Do you any idea what happened to me? I went through living hell. I was in the hospital for two months after we got home.”

Russ: “I know, Kelly. Please, I’m sorry.”

Kelly: “I’ll bet you are. But tell me, Russ, if it was all just a set-up, then why did you take that bullet for me?” Gaze flickers to Scott. “It was Russ who staged to rescue to get me out. In the attempt we were discovered, and he was gut-shot. But somehow we both got out alive. He spent four months in the hospital. Almost died. He couldn’t go out in the field again after that, so he was offered retirement or a promotion behind a desk.”

Scott: “That’s exactly what he did, Kel – took a bullet meant for you. You were supposed to be killed, then all the loose ends would be tied up, and Russ could go back to Washington, a tragic hero. Only, their rifleman missed you and hit Russ instead.”

Kelly: “All these years I’ve been beholden to him. All these damn many years.”

Scott: “And he pulled the same stunt now, Kel. Set you up to be captured… and tortured.”

Kelly: “But they didn’t ask me for any information that I could give them. Kept asking about Tunisia – something in Tunisia.”

Russ: “You didn’t need to give them anything. I’d already given them the information they wanted. But after all these years, the Department was starting to catch up to me. They suspected a leak. So I needed a pigeon. Hernandez’ boys were to make it look like an interrogation. You were supposed to die under torture. The Department would assume that you broke, that you were the leak. But even if you lived, you wouldn’t have been able to trace it to anything, because there is no case regarding Tunisia. Either way, it would leave me in the clear. But Scott wouldn’t give up. He kept investigating. He found me out.”

Scott: “You were sloppy, man. I heard you on the phone to Hernandez. Hasn’t twenty years in the spy business taught you to be a little more careful on an unsecured phone line?”

Russ: “So, what are you going to do with me?”

Kelly: “What do you think?”

Russ: “Please. Turn me over to the Department. You’ve got all the evidence. I’ll sign a confession. Please.”

Kelly: “Do you know what Hernandez’ boys did to me?”

Russ: “Anything they wanted, I suppose.”

Kelly: “They raped me, Russ. Tortured me every way they could think of, then raped me. All the while demanding information that I couldn’t give them. Asking me questions that I didn’t have the answers for. And all because you needed a pigeon. Tell me, Russ, how could you live with yourself, knowing what you sent me into? How could you look me in the eye all these years? How could you put on an act of being my friend? Do you know what I want to do to you, Russ? This Ruger holds a magnum load. Hollow-point. I’ve half a mind to shove it up your ass and blow your guts open again. And maybe I can do it, too, and not feel the slightest moral compunction. I’ve never tortured anyone before. Tell me, what’s it like? Did you get a kick out of what they did to me, Russ – maybe some kind of sexual turn-on?

Russ: “No. Please, Kelly. I didn’t do it to hurt you. I did it to save my skin. Both times. I’m sorry.”

Kelly: “Oh, well, that make it all right then. You’re sorry.”

Russ: “I’ve regretted it for four years. I’m sorry. Please believe me.”

Kelly: “Obviously not sorry enough not to do it to me again four years later. I must be the ideal patsy. You wanted me to die under torture. The worst way a man can die. I’m not only expendable, I’m gutter trash.”

Russ: “I told them to get it over with in a day. They weren’t supposed to keep it up. You were supposed to be killed quickly, with just enough evidence to convince the Department that you’d broken.”

Kelly: “Killed quickly. How thoughtful. Scotty, isn’t that kind? What a thoughtful supervisor we have. But unfortunately, Russ, your orders were misunderstood – you see they thought they could keep going until I died of natural causes. They had me for a week, Russ, until Scotty rescued me. There’s no telling how much longer I might have lasted. They wouldn’t let me die – they wouldn’t even let me pass out. Every time I fainted, they revived me with a nice shot of amphetamine. Yeah, Russ, I had a wonderful time – spending a week freaked out of my mind on pain and Benzedrine. You should try it yourself someday. You want to do it now? Shall I give you a step-by-step replay?”

Russ: “It wasn’t meant to go that way. I’m sorry, Kelly.”

Kelly: “Tell you what Russ. I won’t torture you for a week – I don’t have the time for it, and I probably don’t have the stomach for it either. Maybe I could gut-shoot you and walk away. You know how long a man can last gut-shot? I’ve heard of guys living a whole day, maybe two. So, if I don’t accidentally blow a hole in your aorta or your spleen or something, you’ll probably last awhile. That’s only fair, isn’t it, Russ? After all, you expected me to last just a day. We won’t hold you responsible for the fact that your buddies ignored your orders and took a little initiative on their own. And you know, you probably won’t even be conscious the whole time, if you’re lucky. I don’t have any drugs on hand to pump you full of.”

Russ doesn’t say anything, anguish tightening his face.

Kelly: “Yeah, I could probably leave you here, and not think a thing of it. But I’m not that kind of guy, Russ. Not like you. More probably I’d lie awake nights afterwards and feel bad. But you know what? I know I could blow your brains out and have no trouble sleeping whatsoever. I’m trained to do that. That’s how I earn my living. I’m a government-trained government-paid assassin. Of course, I’ve never killed a man for personal reasons, but it can’t be that different than deactivating a target on command. What do you think, Scotty?”

Scott just shakes his head noncommittally.

Kelly: “Y’know, poor Scotty – he’s what a real partner should be. I’ve been keeping Scotty awake with nightmares every night for the last month. I just keep reliving what they did to me. He’s been putting up with me without complaint. But that’s just not fair to him. I’ll just bet that shooting a mag hollow-point into your skull would end all those nightmares, and Scotty could finally get a good night’s sleep again. Don’t you think that’s fair, Russ? Of course, you know, I might shoot at you and miss. I’ve never used this piece before. Maybe the aim is off. You want to bet your life on it?”

Russ: “Can you kill for personal vendetta? Your code of honor won’t let you. You’re a samurai – you hold duty and honor above all else. I don’t know that you can do it.”

Kelly: “I don’t know either. Maybe I’m not a samurai. Maybe I’m a ninja. They did the dirty work the samurai couldn’t. The work no one talked about. Maybe I can’t sink to your level. Maybe I’m too professional an operative to use my training for personal reasons. Or maybe I’m not. I guess we’ll both find out soon, won’t we? But I don’t have to kill you for personal revenge anyway. I can execute you for treason – save the Department the expense of putting out a Code 10 on you. I don’t know what I find more disgusting – that you sold me out, or that you sold out the whole country. You’ve run Scotty and me for the past three years. We trusted you as our supervisor. Tell me, did you ever sell intelligence that we gathered and reported to you?”

Russ: “Yes.”

Kelly: “Then you made us traitors too.”

Russ: “Please, Kelly, I’m begging for my life. I know I don’t have any right to ask for mercy, but I’m asking anyway. I’m sorry for what I did. You know I’m ruined after you and Scott tell the Department all about this. My career’s destroyed, my life’s over. I’ll be court-martialled and probably sent to a hospital for the rest of my life. That’s almost like being dead. That ought to be enough revenge for you. Please. I won’t contradict anything you tell Washington. Please. I know I’m asking for the compassion that I didn’t give you, but… Please.

Kelly: “Stop whimpering, Russ. I just had lunch, and you’re giving me indigestion.”

Russ: “Then kill me and be done with it. Please.”

Scott leaves the room. There’s a gunshot, then after awhile, Kelly emerges.

Scott: “Did you do it?”

Kelly: “Does it matter?”

Scott: “No.”

As they walk off, Scott rests a hand on Kelly’s shoulder.

  
* * * * * **FINIS** * * * * *

 


End file.
